Best Bar Food (2005)

Mezcal's kitchen turns out fantastic Tijuana street-corner shrimp cocktails with big, tail-on shrimp floating in a sweet-and-spicy tomato juice with diced chiles, onions and big slices of fresh avocado, served with Saltines (the best part of any great coctel de camarones). It makes sopes with meat, black beans, lettuce, tomatoes and all that good stuff packed inside a crisp, greasy fried shell. The house also runs a late-night happy hour that's perfect for attracting the city's party monsters: $1 tacos, a deal that beats the pants off any of those fast-food drive-thru dollar menus. Done in the style of borderlands Mexican vendors, these tacos come double-wrapped in corn tortillas, stuffed with fillings and topped with shredded cabbage. A half-dozen with a couple of cold Coronas? Short of lighting out for Tijuana, there's simply no better way to end the day.